Book Synopsis:
As the daughter of Sir Alfred Whitford, Kat has a certain set of responsibilities. But chasing her wayward sister, Ellie, to Nazi-occupied Paris was never supposed to be one of them. Now accustomed to the luxurious lifestyle that her Nazi boyfriend provides, Ellie has no intention of going back to the shackled life their parents dictate for them--but Kat will stop at nothing to bring her sister home.
Arrested for simply trying to defend himself against a drunken bully, Barrett Anderson is given the option of going to jail or serving out his sentence by training Resistance fighters in Paris. A bar owner serves as the perfect disguise to entertain Nazis at night while training fighters right below their jackboots during the day. Being assigned to watch over two English debutantes is the last thing he needs, but a payout from their father is too tempting to resist. Can Barrett and Kat trust each other long enough to survive, or will their hearts prove more traitorous than the dangers waiting around the corner?
My Review:
"She was the brightness to his gloom, the lightness to his burdens, the call to his heart, and how difficult it was not to answer it in full."
4/5 stars. This book was lovely in so many ways, but there were a couple things preventing it from being five stars. The plot was engaging the whole time, the romance was swoon-worthy, and the villain perfectly awful. However, the sexual content got to be a bit too much for me, and the ending rubbed me slightly the wrong way.
I LOVED the romance. Kat and Barrett had such good chemistry and witty banter. Barrett is one of my favorite love interests I've read in a while. He was the kind of guy who can recognize and compliment your strengths, come to your rescue when you need it, and call you out bluntly when you're being stupid. Although some of it went farther than I was comfortable with, which I'll get to in a moment, I loved all the subtle little moments of physical affection.
On the topic of the sexual content, this book was labeled as Christian fiction, but it shouldn't be. There was no faith content apart from a couple mentions of God. Also, while it was technically clean, there were a lot of pretty intense kiss scenes and detailed descriptions of romantic scenes. If it had been toned down just a little bit, it would've made the book better.
Now I'll talk about the plot. I was invested very early on, and it kept me engaged until the very end. There were so many good cliffhanger endings to chapters that made me keep turning pages. The last few chapters especially had me gasping constantly.
The main villain was so well-written because I hated him. Everything about him was awful. He was also characterized well in the sense that, his motivations made sense, and you could feel some ounce of pity for him, but he still wasn't likable or redeemable. On a similar note, having Hitler as a character who speaks in the book was terrible in a good way.
Finally, the ending was the second big reason this book isn't five stars. I won't go into spoilers, but it didn't sit right with me fully. It was cute and satisfying, but a tad problematic/unrealistic at the same time.
Content:
Language: b*stard, wh*re, God's name taken in vain (in French)
Sexual Content: attempted sexual assault, detailed descriptions of what kisses and touches feel like, passionate kisses including neck and jaw kisses, allusions to sex, mentions of people lusting over women, innuendos, mentions of a brothel
Violence/Gore: lots of violence; descriptions of fights, blood, injuries, wounds
Drugs/Alcohol: characters drink alcohol a lot throughout, mentions of people being drunk, Barrett's father was an alcoholic
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